NUS MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE (DTS) THESIS REPORT

Architectural
Battery
ARCHITECTURE AS MEANS FOR MATERIALS STOCKPILE,
MATERIALS STOCKPILE AS ARCHITECTURE

Tambun Timber Reclamation and Re-Interpretation Centre

LEE Ping Fuan

ARCHITECTURAL BATTERY:
ARCHITECTURE AS MEANS FOR MATERIALS STOCKPILE, MATERIALS
STOCKPILE AS ARCHITECTURE

BY

LEE PING FUAN

A0096203L

Thesis Report submitted to the Department of Architecture in

partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of

MASTERS OF ARCHITRECTURE
at the

National University of Singapore

2013/14

Acknowledgements
The Author offers his sincere appreciation for Mr. Shinya Okuda for his passionate
tutelage and guidance, sharp critique, and constant urging to strive forward and push
the boundaries.\. Without his efforts the completion of this thesis would have been
next to impossible.
The Author would also like to thank Ar. Azman Zainal Md. Nor for spending his precious
Friday morning in sharing his knowledge and experience in working with reclaimed
timber as an architect in Malaysia, and his odyssey to restore a part of the timber
culture already lost to us all. The chapter "Issues" owes every bit of information to his
insights.
Sincerest gratitude to Ar, Wooi Lok Kuang who has divulged his personal time during
the weekends to allow me to seek consultation from him regarding the progress and
viability of this thesis project, and for his enthusiastic encouragement to the Author to
keep pushing forward.
To the administrative personnel at the NUS Faculty of Architecture, the Author gives
his best wishes and sincere gratitude for the extra mile they took to keep things
running in order - particularly to Mr. Muji and Mr. Shah at the Architecture Workshop,
and Ms. Agnes at the Admin Department.
Last but not least the Author offers his love and unending gratitude to his family,
comrades and the closest of friends - both in Singapore and in Malaysia for their
encouragement throughout this journey. It has been a great ride!

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................................................3
Synopsis .................................................................................................................................................................................5
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
The Choice of Wood ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Issues ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Timber Industry in Malaysia ................................................................................................................................... 8
Malaysian Timber Construction Culture ........................................................................................................... 8
Manufacturers/Producers .................................................................................................................................. 9
Consumers................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Builders/Skilled Workers ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Professionals ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
Reclaiming Timber .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Architectural Battery......................................................................................................................................................14
Challenging Permanence ........................................................................................................................................14
Components Development and Tectonics Study .............................................................................................. 15
Railway Sleepers ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
Dimensional Lumber/Posts and Beams .......................................................................................................... 19
Cladding/Siding/Planks ................................................................................................................................................ 21
Tambun Timber Reclamation and Re-Interpretation Centre ...................................................................... 25
Proposed Site: Tambun Town, near Ipoh City, Perak Malaysia .............................................................. 25
Case Studies...................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Swiss Soundbox Pavilion (2002) - Peter Zumthor ....................................................................................... 35
Futuropolis - Daniel Libeskind.............................................................................................................................. 36
Lantern Pavilion - Atelier Oslo .............................................................................................................................. 37
Chidori Furniture, GC Prostho - Kengo Kuma................................................................................................ 38
Nishi Building Lobby - March Studio ................................................................................................................. 39
Railway Sleeper House - Shin Takasuga ...........................................................................................................41

Synopsis
The Malaysian timber sector is under threat from within and without. Forces of a globalised
economy bought out the good stocks of timber available in the nation's markets and brought
a once-eloquent and appreciated timber construction tradition and culture to its knees. The
trade was not immediately apparent: there were lucrative profits for the foreign export of
local timber species. However, the precious skilled carpenters and their cherished talents and
knowledge in the way of the wood have soon been diluted - indeed, an entire working culture,
a working class have been subjugated by misinformation, incompetency, affordability and a
general lack of appreciation towards one of the oldest - and most precious construction
materials known to civilization. In its place came the dominance of artificial materials such as
steel and concrete which carry exorbitant carbon costs and are toxic to the environment.
The forces of global change came knocking once again on Malaysian doors - in the form of a
global energy crisis and climate change. Malaysians now sought after a clean and green source
of construction material and looked towards their lush forests. They found that the precious
stocks of timber in forestry throughout the nation are on rapid decline. Essential skill sets
needed to work with timber are nearly non-existent throughout the entire chain of design,
supply, and construct.
Two issues are being addressed here in this thesis:
1) the need to reintroduce and re-popularize timber construction methods among the
public and the professionals in the building construction industry;
2) to strive towards a more sustainable materials economy focused on the carbonnegative timber, while improving material reusability and design with materials
inherent characteristics/materiality in mind.
Combining an quasi-awareness campaign to promote through design - appreciation for timber,
and the practical need to stockpile and maintain viable construction materials already in the
supply/consume chain, the Architectural Battery was conceived and will attempt to
demonstrate the viability of both ideas in the Malaysian context.

Introduction
The Choice of Wood
Building construction industry in Southeast Asia as we know it, with its insatiable
consumption of non-renewable resources will never be sustainable. The environmental costs
in the business-as-usual methods of building construction is also severe: anthropogenic
climate change due to excessive greenhouse gasses emission is the direct result of the
extraction and consumption of fossil fuels to drive the production processes of essential
building construction materials - namely concrete and steel. There is a need now to shift away
from the established paradigms and construct our built environment with gentler, greener
means.

Achieving carbon neutrality and sustainability in our built environment can be achieved from
lower- and better-managed consumption of resources, through choice and different
approaches in thinking about and using materials and the constructed building.

Staples of the construction industry - concrete and steel present insatiable appetites for coal a non-renewable fossil resource that heavily pollutes the air and the environment. The process

of mining for their raw materials irreversibly damages the landscapes and geology of the
locality. In spite of all the advances in resource extraction and materials technology, timber
remains to be among the most carbon-neutral building material known to man.
Trees have the ability to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide and store that within the
timber even after the tree has been felled and the material converted to various uses. With up
to 50% of the timber's dry mass being carbon tied up and stored during the tree's growth, each
tree and in extension, each piece of wood and each timber product in all shapes and sizes
collectively contributes to a significant carbon sequestration endeavour.

Issues
Timber Industry in Malaysia
Malaysia is home to 19.81 million hectares of prime tropical rainforest, which covers up to 60%
of the country's landmass. Forestry products such as timbers and other foraged produce are
abundant for the nation's 29.24 million population.
The Malaysian timber industry provides up to 140,000 jobs - fielding jobs for 1.16% of the
country's 12 million-strong labour force. This data underscores the fact that the sector
contributed up to RM 28.3 billion or 3.7% of Malaysia's GDP.
Malaysian forestry products - especially tropical timbers of various species - are highly-valued
the world over, with overseas prices selling for as much as 300% of its local value. Thus, much
of the wealth associated with the timber sector comes in the form of export earnings,
generating up RM 20.5 billion in revenue for the nation.
The primary export destination for Malaysian timber
products are Japan (23%), while Malaysia's other
major trading partners made up almost half of the
exports share - the United States of America (11%),
India (8%), Taiwan (5%), Singapore (4%), China (4%),
Australia (4%).
Being an export-oriented sector, Malaysian timber has
faced challenges in the international market, namely
import restrictions in the destination nation, public
procurement policies, certification for legality and
sustainability, and also export restrictions imposed by
the Malaysian government. In addition to that, acute
deforestation in Malaysia to make way for lucrative oil
palm plantations also means that the industry's natural stock of forestry products and tropical
timber are on rapid decline.

Malaysian Timber Construction Culture

While Malaysia's timber export economy thrived, the same cannot be said about the
contemporary Malaysian timber construction culture: it is nearly non-existent. Decades of
prioritizing timber for exports over domestic consumption meant that the local constructors
and industries are getting the shorter end of the stick. Quality of the timber made available
locally were poor as the better products have been shipped out to foreign countries.

Manufacturers/Producers
Timbers with insufficient drying and treatment were released into the local market with
adverse effects to the quality of local timber construction. A combination of that and lack of
appropriate certification practices meant that timbers used locally are not up-to-specs and
potentially unsafe, which eroded the local professionals' and the public's confidence and
demand in the material.
Consumers
People no longer trust or appreciate local timber as a trusted, desired and loved material, nor
do they have the necessary awareness with timber as a potentially sustainable, carbonnegative construction material that actually reduces their personal carbon footprint. Lastly, the
influence of a globalised, international market on the price of tropical timber drove prices up
and further stymied demands for local use.
Builders/Skilled Workers
Common perception is not the only problem, as constructors - the skilled carpenters and
craftsmen familiar with working and building with timber has become very rare. Compound
that with the increased reliance on imported foreign low-skill, low wage labourers for much of
the construction industry - now revolving around reinforced concrete, centuries of common
local timber construction tradition, knowledge, and most importantly - the hands-on working
culture around timber has been lost and timber construction have become something
available only for the wealthy.
Professionals
Building construction professionals such as architects and engineers - the designers, have also
become unfamiliar with working with timber and claimed timber to be a "natural material"
that has unique eccentricities and unpredictable defects in every element. Most of these
industry professionals present a generally distrustful attitude towards timber construction
while lacking competency in working with the material. Understanding of timber's material
properties and materiality is almost non-existent in most Malaysian practices and hence these
professionals cannot effectively design and specify timber for the construction of simple
timber structures.
With such misperception, malpractices and crippling issues of supply and affordability all
along the chain from the industry professionals/designers, the builders, the
producer/manufacturer to the clients and end users, there is little wonder why the timber is
often disregarded in favour of artificially produced, engineered, standardised and predictable
materials such as concrete and steel.

Advocating the widespread use of timber is also controversial: large swathes of forest may
need to be cut down, further accelerating deforestation in a region rapidly losing its prime
forests. In the absence of well-regulated forestry, harvesting even the abundant local forests
will not be viable in the long run. However, what about the timber already in-use and incirculation along the supply and consumption chain?
Used wood is a frequently-overlooked source of materials - the use of which is often a case of
vanity and novelty - for aesthetics, ambience and even the branding of an establishment. They
aren't always the degraded, non-reusable materials leftover after the building's demolition:
some are dimensionally stable, well-seasoned timber ready to take on a new lease of life.
Actively salvaging used (and discarded)materials and keeping these untapped resources in the
construct-occupy-demolish/dismantle loop can help to reduce wastage then maximize the
usability and value of the materials.
This can be the first step towards a more sustainable built environment - one constructed (and
re-constructed) on timber for Malaysia.

Reclaiming Timber
Used timber can come from many sources: old timber buildings, railway sleepers, discarded
pallets and shipping crates , boats, etc. that have been dismantled. These wood come in many
forms, shapes and sizes, and may present different levels of preservation, ranging from some
being in mint condition while others may have decayed to the core after years of neglect. Used
timber have lost its inherent nutrition values and are slightly more termite-resistant. And due
to the many years of use and weathering exposure, these wood have become acclimatized and
are thus dimensionally stable compared to freshly-cut wood from the timber yards.
Timber reclamation is the process of salvaging, cleaning, stripping and restoring these
collected pieces of wood to a usable, marketable condition. Used timber of different
reparation will require different levels of care and handling in the process of restoration.
First order of the reclamation process is to wash away the grime and dirt collected on the
surface of the wood. The wood is then scanned for embedded nails and/or screws using a
metal detector and having those removed before being taken to the next process. While the
aged surface of the wood may be desirable to buyers who enjoy the rugged appearance, the
aged timber surface can be stripped away by 5-10 millimetres to expose the nicely preserved
timber inside - which looks as good as new. Finally, the wood can be re-oiled/stained or coated
once again to preserve the finishing.
While timber is a resilient material and is forgiving in terms of handling, the fact remains that
each subsequent step and cycle in reclaiming or restoring damaged timber will reduce the size
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of each individual piece until they are no longer fit for their initial purpose. This is effectively
the down-cycling of the material. However, there are many techniques developed to make use
of such timbers, extending their time within the materials consumption chain for a longer
period.
Those techniques investigated are Glue-Laminated Timber (Glulam) , Cross-Laminated Timber
(CLT), Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) and Inter-Locking Cross-Laminated Timber (ICLT). Among
these, the ICLT technique came across as the most endearing due to the fact that it gives
discarded and otherwise wasted timber (beetle kill pines) an avenue of application - an
opportunity to shine, and uses the most advanced of Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
milling technology to accurately (and repeatedly) create customizable inter-locking joints for
the purpose of laminating blocks of timber together without the use of adhesives. Each of
these blocks have gone through minimal machining and can be dismantled (without incurring
damages to itself) to be deployed in a different project should the need arise.

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Architectural Battery
is summarily: Architecture as a means for Materials Storage; and Materials Stockpiling as
Architecture.
With Architectural Battery, the author proposes to change that notion of irreversible materials
consumption in the process/cycle of constructing, occupying and demolishing a building.

Challenging Permanence
Rather than viewing construction as an irreversible consumption of materials and resources
that inflates the market, the erection of a building can be seen as an inherent process of
increasing the real material worth of an economy through using each constructed building as
active stockpiles of building material and a passive carbon sink.
In such light a building is likened to a "stockpile" of materials that can be charged (assembled
and stored) and discharged (disassembled and redistributed)as supply and demand of the
market evolves.
Such buildings can become an essential infrastructure within the city as a collection, stockpile
reprocessing and redistribution point of strategic construction materials, making materials
available close to sites within the city, all while maintaining itself as a sheltered building with
functional spaces.
It is a contraption on an architectural scale - functioning not unlike a battery, charging and
then discharging its stockpile of salvaged wood for a predominantly-timber construction
economy of the not-too distant future. Imbued within its very structure is the conscious
decision to prolong the lifespan of each individual elements stored within itself, and for each
piece to see a different incarnation of itself in the future.

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Components Development and Tectonics Study

Timber products of the sawn wood variety can generally be categorised into a few classes,
namely the Heavy, Medium and Light Timber products. These classifications are determined by
the dimensions of the elements (which pertains to their original design functions) to conform
within certain established parameters.
Timber products that will fit into each separate classes for the purpose of this thesis are:
1.

Heavy - Railway Sleepers

2. Medium - Dimensional Lumber/Posts and Beams

3. Light - Cladding/Siding/Planks

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Railway Sleepers

Utilizing the bolting holes left over from securing the rails onto the sleepers, a
connection/jointing that is very element-specific is created. This method of bolting does not
cut away the timber, nor does it bore in new holes. The sleeper is preserved as-is while serving
as an integral part of a building's structure.
This set of rules allows for varying degrees of freedom, include staggering the sleepers or to set
them at a rotated angle. The relative bulk of this material can be a good contrast against
lighter and better-spaced materials/constructions.

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Dimensional Lumber/Posts and Beams

Employing this type of jointing, posts and

beams salvaged from demolished buildings
of various different lengths can be processed
(cut/CNC milled) into size, profile and
combined into a robust lattice structure.

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Spaces within each cell of the lattice structure can be used as a storage space for salvaged
material, or simply used as a generous separation between functional spaces, filled with either
glass or other materials when more segregation is desired.

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Cladding/Siding/Planks

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Tambun Timber Reclamation and Re-Interpretation Centre

Proposed Site: Tambun Town, near Ipoh City, Perak Malaysia

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Perak was chosen as the site of the project due to its higher acreage of forest reserves per
capita in comparison with the Malaysian Peninsula average. Also, there is an abundance of
newly-gazetted stretch of land flanking a major expressway in Belum, Northern Perak for
forest protection by the state government. At a time when other states are leasing off land
banks to boost the state coffers, Perak's stewardship of environmental sustainability is
enviable and is thus possess a suitable spirit to re-embrace nature.

Situated 7km from the 4th largest urban area in Peninsula Malaysia, Tambun is a satellite town
to the East of the city of Ipoh.
Located on what was formerly part of an oxidation pond for the locale and later became a used
timber yard, the proposed site is a plot that straddles along one side of Jalan Tambun,
measuring 12181.74 sq. m. This is a suburban location with small and medium-sized buildings
sprawled across the landscape. A religious school for elementary school children sits towards
the South of the site while the remnant of the disused oxidation pond occupies the Northern
side of the Site.
The existing used timber yard has pavilions sprawled throughout the site that is used to house
different types of timber products salvaged in from sites across the state of Perak and
elsewhere on the Malaysian Peninsula.
The reversed-L-shaped site has closer proximity to the disused oxidation pond and to the
religious school towards the South, suggesting greater human presence in this end of the site.
This area of the site is chosen as the location for the Visitor's Centre of the facility. The rest of
the site will be used to primarily store salvaged used timber.

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The design of the entire site is governed by the standard of 550mm-grid, the smallest unit cell
of the lattice structure developed in the previous chapter. Spaces contained within this facility
are, therefore, conforming to a modularised system. The rigid dimension rules of this grid is
ironically that gives it the flexibility to add-on or to dismantle structure according to needs. The
downside to this method will be the utter disregard for the cutting away of excess materials
on the salvaged timber. To minimize such wastage, pieces of wood have to be carefully
selected from a structured database of collected/salvaged materials.
The internal spaces and facade of the building is a composition of the developed components
and tectonics, creating varying spatial atmospheres through varying porosity of materials,
colour pallet and tactility. A combination of rigid yet light lattice structure; bold, massive yet
nimble railway logs, and organic/chaotic aggregated planks defines the tone and mood within
and without of the spaces.

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The Architectural Battery, Tambun Timber Reclamation and Re-Interpretation Centre, bird's eye
view from the South-East direction.

The Visitor's Centre consists of three Offices - one each for the building management team,
and branch offices for Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) and Malaysian Timber Industry Board
(MTIB) where two organizations are the leaders and stewards of the Malaysian timber sector.

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There is a Resource Centre to disseminate information, publish journals and other periodicals
about Malaysian timbers and timber construction.

A Seminar Room to accommodate up to 54 person can be used for hosting events and CPD for
industry professionals to educate and familiarize them with timber construction..

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There is finally the Exhibition Space hosting both temporary and permanent exhibits to
demonstrate various timber construction techniques, technologies and innovations. This space
also is connected to the rest of the workshop and materials storage area proper of the facility.

The Workshop and Stockpiling area is connected to the exhibition space via the tunnel of InterLocking Planks. This Stockpiling area for timber can expand by up to 1250% from its initial 79
storage lots to 986 lots. At its maximum capacity the facility can potentially store in excess of
10000 m of timber, worth up to RM 9 million in domestic markets.

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Case Studies
Swiss Soundbox Pavilion (2002) - Peter Zumthor

The idea of using stored raw material as architectural elements is masterfully done in this
project. When the pavilion was being dismantled, the timber used in its construction has
become seasoned and are thus sold as quality seasoned wood for higher price than when it
started out as fresh-sawn timber.

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Futuropolis - Daniel Libeskind

While using a standardised jointing method with the dovetail profile aluminium dowels, this
architectural sculpture is made of planes of timber intersecting at many angles and lengths.
The fact that this was all fastened together by a single ubiquitous jointing technique became
an inspiration for much of this project's initial development

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Lantern Pavilion - Atelier Oslo

This contemporary timber structure is a re-interpretation of the traditional Norwegian shelter

that was built using massive timber structure. The end result turned out to be a delightful
open-air sheltered space that serves as a popular gathering spot for the locale while at the
same time generated more interest for timber construction and boosted the businesses in its
surroundings.

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Chidori Furniture, GC Prostho - Kengo Kuma

A complex set of structure that started out as 3 very simple modules working in conjunction
with each other to form a lattice network. The lattice structure can be added on as needs arises
or taken down and stored when no longer desirable. This sort of flexibility informs the core
ethos of Architectural Battery.

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Nishi Building Lobby - March Studio

Suspending over 2000 pieces of reclaimed wood in the lobby has created this overwhelming
space that both informs and excites the temporary inhabitants of this space. It is this same
impact that the spaces in Architectural Battery aims to achieve.

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Salvaged Landscape - Catie Newell

Constructed of timber pieces salvaged from an abandoned, partially-burnt down house in

Detroit, this is a sculpture that exposes both the weakness and resilience of the building
material, and a commentary on the severe urban decay experienced in Detroit since the
restructuring of the car-making industry in the US.

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Railway Sleeper House - Shin Takasuga

The Railway Sleeper house by Shin Takasuga demonstrates the robustness and mighty bulk of
the railway sleeper when used directly in building construction. The rugged, weathered
surfaces of the sleeper logs makes the building appear solemn

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